It is customary in China to receive at least one cash-filled envelope, or hongbao, in celebration of a wedding or Chinese New Year. Nobody knows how many millions of dollars change hands as a result of this tradition each year, but the Chinese authorities have been able to put a precise number on a new cash gift phenomenon: pre-paid plastic gift cards. The custom is so popular that this “cheap” plastic now accounts for a USD 246 bn industry – and that is just an annual estimate!

A study carried out by a Beijing court found that plastic gift cards have become a standard means to bribe people, in part because they allow for completely anonymous shopping sprees and can be passed on to third parties or even sold. But all that changed on 25 May with the State Council’s decision to register anyone who acquires a gift card worth more than about EUR 100. Potential bribers thus better abandon the plastic alternative and stock up on red envelopes.